


The Gang Does a Hallmark Movie

by bulletproof_art



Category: It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
Genre: Dee deserves good things, F/M, Hallmark Movie, M/M, Mac is seriously in love, Multi, cheesy as hell
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-13
Updated: 2019-12-13
Packaged: 2021-02-26 00:06:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,607
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21774163
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bulletproof_art/pseuds/bulletproof_art
Summary: It's that time of the year dubbed "cuffing season", and the gang is as incapable of holding a relationship as ever. But with Mac and Dee spending more time watching romcom marathons on the Hallmark channel, strange events start to occur and lead the gang down a spiral of big changes. Snowy days now come with a spark of magic.
Relationships: Charlie Kelly/The Waitress (It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia), Mac McDonald/Dennis Reynolds, Matthew "Rickety Cricket" Mara/Dee Reynolds
Kudos: 10





	The Gang Does a Hallmark Movie

**Author's Note:**

> This was honestly all written in my free-time, and the only "beta" reading will be from my fiance considering he's the one I'm writing this for anyway. Hopefully it's enjoyable to the audience, though!

8:00 AM  
On a Monday

Mac was tired. Of course, he wasn’t tired enough to not answer a call from his best friend in the whole world, but his level of sleep deprivation was definitely on the border of doing so. 

“Hey dude, can I get a ride to work off you?” Charlie’s typical, high-pitched squeak of a voice rang a little louder than expected through the receiver. Mac winced and held his cell an extra inch away. He already knew the answer he had to give, considering he didn’t even own a proper “ride” himself. The best form a transportation under his name was a bicycle he and Charlie had bought on a whim a few months prior- trying to reclaim their childhoods; only to find that childhood still fucking sucked and they wanted nothing to do with the memories. 

“Dennis isn’t even up yet man, I don’t think that’s gonna work today.”

Here came the fit.

“What!? Oh, come on Mac, you can’t just expect me to like… not show up! If I walk it’s just gonna take too long and I’ll probably end up getting-”

Mac listened idly as he stumbled out of his bedroom, leaving the bed looking like a disaster and kicking a pile of old clothes away on his trek out. He glanced around the apartment, trying to eye a box of cereal or something before settling on going all the way to the cabinets in search of another breakfast food. He started when the familiar sound of Dennis’ doorknob clicked behind him, and without even letting Charlie complete his rant the phone had already been turned off so he could properly greet his roommate. 

Sleep betrayed Dennis every now and again when the man made his decision to come out and eat before putting on his makeup. The other liked to pick on him for his momentary weaknesses- so naturally he couldn’t even fathom sleeping anywhere but his own bed nowadays. It’d taken a while after said “flaws” of age were unavoidably weaponized by his sister for Dennis to even come out of hiding uncovered around Mac- and they’d lived together forever. But their routine was back in order once again, and he looked ruffled by the night of rest. 

There was something about this metaphorical nakedness and vulnerability that made Mac feel silently honored to witness him in this state. He stared quietly as Dennis took his time to gather himself in the living room, rubbing a hand over his face and patting his sunken, yet still wonderfully defined cheeks to wake up further. 

Now blue eyes could flit across the room and focus on Mac, who caught himself looking a little too attentive at his friend and awkwardly spun around to shove his head back into the cabinets. He’d still forgotten entirely what he was looking for, though. 

“Good morning, Ronald.”

Ooh, there it was. All the puppylike adoration Mac had felt flutter up in his heart fizzled and his face screwed up as he squinted at a well overly expired box of “healthy” poptarts. He looked over his shoulder with a pleading look to Dennis, leaning into the counter fussily. “Don’t do that.”

“Do what? It’s your name. You’re named after a hamburger clown.”

There was a 50/50 chance he either woke up happily and treated him to some morning-exclusive praise, or with the desire for the first words out of his mouth to annoy the closest victim as much as possible. A popular jab was full-naming his poor, unfortunately dubbed roommate. 

He didn’t respond for a minute to make sure he knew he was upset, sulking over to the fridge to get a protein concoction as his final breakfast decision and letting the silence really get to them until giving in.

“...Morning Dennis.”

Dennis seemed pleased with the completion of the exchange and squeezed past him in the kitchen to hunt down his own meal. There wasn’t any protest now and Mac quickly left the area to avoid being shooed at a later point anyway, settling on the living room couch where he could watch the other man attend to himself from afar. 

“Charlie wanted a r-”

“Do we ever give Charlie a ride?”

A reply wasn’t necessary, and Dennis’ tone was enough to make Mac duck his head and huff, deciding to drop any attempt at grumpy morning communication entirely as he sipped on his shake. He estimated they had an hour before they both needed to run out, but it never took him too long to throw something together from his closet and wait by the door for his roomie to finish patting on concealer. However, it was getting cold out. This thought already dropped his mood considerably with the tethered realization he had to wear sleeves today. And oh boy, Charlie was gonna be pissed when he got into work from walking all the way thr-

“Be ready in twenty, alright? We gotta stop by the store before heading in today.”

Oh shit, the usual schedule was already off to a rocky start. Mac set his half finished drink down and hopped up immediately, marching right on to his room. Dennis’ brows furrowed and he snaked around the counter to follow in a couple steps, holding his hands out. “Mac, you literally take five minutes to get dressed. You can finish your breakfast.”

“Sleeves.” 

That was the only explanation needed, and Dennis pursed his lips in understanding as he turned back to what he was doing. He mentally wished Mac good-fucking-luck with that one, not bothering to take another glance when the other’s bedroom door slammed behind. 

****

\---

****

“FUCK YOU, MAN.”

Charlie marched into Paddy’s with bright red cheeks, looking wind-beaten and shivering as he dusted snow out of his hair. He promptly approached Mac and puffed his chest out against the taller man’s side in a fit of anger. Mac stumbled to the side to try and escape it, tossing his head every which way and whining until Dee shoved her arm between them. Both recoiled, not to end the argument, but to remove themselves from contact with her. 

“I told you we weren’t gonna have time, Charlie! I’m not even the one with the car!”

“Do you know how cold out there it is? FUCKIN’ FREEZING! I can’t even feel my balls right now, Mac. I CAN’T. FEEL. MY BALLS.” He motioned to his crotch for emphasis, and only Mac followed with his gaze to assess that he was, in fact, freezing down there. Not like he could tell through those jeans but, it’s the thought that counts right? 

Dee appeared disgusted by this boyish conversation already and nudged Mac in the side to gain his attention back to what they’d been doing before the intrusion. She was confident that there was still more interest in hanging out with her than having a row with Charlie. Shockingly, she was correct. He glanced back at her and remembered all at once, then pushing on Charlie’s shoulder to incite a different conversation. 

“We found this free movie channel that just makes so much realistic sense. It’s just all Christmas romance. Well, it’s only realistic when it’s not the movies involving royalty. Two aesthetically pleasing people fall in love because of events that force them together. They only get like.. One kiss, too. So you have to watch the whole movie for it. Dee and I have been watching them since we got here this morning.” 

Charlie scrunched his nose up at the idea of “romance” and all that jazz, Dennis throwing him a knowing eye-roll from across the bar where he was wiping down the wooden stretch with one hand and holding his own beer with the other. Early drinking was a sign of “it’s gonna be a long day with these two”. 

“That sounds like the most unrealistic thing ever.”

“No no dude! It’s Christmas magic. Well, it’s God matching people together for his own holiday. It’s his gift to humans. Soulmate stuff.”

Mac was very convinced with himself over this matter, and a bright smile confirmed Dee was in full agreement with him in one way or another. 

“They all have the same plot. But whatever keeps these two entertained is easy enough to allow.” Dennis piped in, setting his bottle down only long enough to grab another from underneath the bar and pop the cap- sliding it over in an offer of alliance to Charlie. It was accepted immediately, and the rat-king himself hopped up onto a bar stool. 

“Look Charlie, if you and I get the place cleaned up today while those two pea-brains occupy themselves in the boob tube, we’ll all be able to leave early tonight. No one’s even gonna come in today, anyway. The snow is only gonna get worse and I don’t want to be stuck here with you bozos when the roads go bad.” 

Dennis made a compelling offer, and Charlie mulled it over in a very evident “yes you have me thinking, that’s why I’m squinting and nodding veeeerry slowly” expression. This was taking too long, however, and the process was sped along with a tactical shift on Dennis’ part that his pocket crinkled with the telltale sound of candy wrappers. 

“You’re right. Turn their TV up and let’s do this.” 

Charlie earned an unexpected wink from the bartender, and the tips of his ears lit up pink as a feeling of achievement washed over him. He grinned lopsidedly to himself, sitting up a little straighter. Thankfully, this went unnoticed and he was left to tend to his silent pride in peace.


End file.
